The headphones thread! [Sorry about your wallet]

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Reply # 727325 5-Dec-2012 11:28

timmmay: Beats by Dr Dre aren't near as clear as some other headphones, plus they're not well made - they tend to fail after a couple of years. They're also pretty expensive. The noise cancelling works great in airplanes, but otherwise isn't really that useful.

I had to repair a set of these for a friend the other day, absolute plastic junk. Can't commend on the audio quality, but the build quality is rubbish to the extent that I wouldn't have been surprised if they were counterfeits (they weren't). But they have the right name on them which is the point.

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Reply # 727331 5-Dec-2012 11:30

I have some old Senn 280's up the the cupboard. The headband has cracked, like most do eventually. The sound is precise and sharp, a bit harsh really. The bass is low but weak, the highs are a bit strong. Overall not bad for the price though, and they respond ok to equalisation.

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Reply # 727336 5-Dec-2012 11:38

timmmay: I have some old Senn 280's up the the cupboard. The headband has cracked, like most do eventually. The sound is precise and sharp, a bit harsh really. The bass is low but weak, the highs are a bit strong. Overall not bad for the price though, and they respond ok to equalisation.

Yup, mine has cracked, some good quality black electrical tape fixed it up good as new, and it actually looks pretty good.

I like my phones to be as neutral as possible, (so the HD2x2's are out the window as they are typical bass-heavy street phones which sound awful to me). The 280's have served me well as a reasonable quality circum-aural solution for SOAF. Your analysis pretty much agrees with my opinion of them, although I don't find them all that harsh, they respond better when driven with a decent source given their higher-than-normal impedance.

I'm very pleased that Amazon UK still had some PMX-60's in stock as they're the best sounding lightweight knock-about "street" phones I've ever come across, plus they're well priced.

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Raikyn

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Reply # 728197 6-Dec-2012 18:35

I've bought a couple of headphones in the last few weeks.
Firstup was a pair of Soundmagic HP100's, sounded good except for an imbalance issue, so I sent them back.
While waiting for a replacement I ended up getting some Senn HP25-2. Great sound to my un-trained ear. Great quality, and fairly portable.
It ended up that it would take a couple of weeks to get the hp100 replacement so I was offered the Soundmagic HP200's instead, which have just turned up today.
Looks to be good. Nice quality, very comfortable, good sound.

Overall very happy with my purchases :)

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 728326 6-Dec-2012 23:43

Will be picking up my Audio-GD Reference 10 tomorrow morning, can't wait to hear it with my HE-6 tomorrow night!

Got my Jaben-modded T5p today too, not much chance to listen with them yet, will do a lengthy test between them and my regular T5p over the weekend I think. The Jaben mod is incredibly high quality - it is so seamless it actually looks like it came from Beyerdynamic like that.

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Reply # 728386 7-Dec-2012 09:29

Picked up my Audio-GD Reference 10 this morning. Yegods it is massive and very heavy. Even knowing it's dimensions beforehand I was still surprised by. I had measured the space it needs to go into and thought I would have enough room without much to spare, but now looking at it I am not so sure! May require a complete rethink of how my desktop is setup to accommodate it!

Also had time for a bit of A/B from an RSA Intruder listening to the modded T5p in balanced mode, and the regular T5p via a single-ended connection, I have a few preliminary thoughts.

Firstly, the Jaben mod isn't just to the cable and cable termination at the headphone end - they've also changed the pads. The Jaben pads are much firmer and heavier, and between them and a much heavier cable I find them slightly less comfortable than the regular T5p with its super-cushy pads (took me a little while to work out why I was finding the comfort factor different). They may soften with a bit of use though, so I'm rushing to make final conclusions there. Because I can easily tell which is on my head by the fit I can't really see how I can do a blind and volume-matched comparison between the two, which is a shame. Will have to see whether they isolate any better as a result, I suspect they will actually. Will try and have an external listener to let me know whether there is any material difference in leakage. Then will try in an environment with more outside noise too.

As for the sound - the bass quantity and impact is very much increased, I think at the expense of a little tightness. The difference is honestly a bit startling. Stuff like Teardrop by Massive Attack, with the really low sub-bass that kicks in at about 40s is much improved, as were tracks like Super Massive Black Whole by Muse, where the kick drum in the intro should have more body and impact than it does out of the regular T5p. I need more time to listen, but I there is a subtle difference to the mids too, perhaps slightly less forward sounding now that the bottom end is filled in a bit more. I really like the forward mids of the regular T5p, as they suit my listening preferences, really helping guitars to "sound right" in rock and metal (to my ear as a guitarist at any rate), but I think overall the slight concession is worth it. Imaging also benefits a bit I think, listening to some Pantera and Tool, where both drummers do a lot of fine detail stuff with splash cymbals and bells, that's slightly easier to pick out on the modded ones.

Rather curious as to how much the extra power per-channel in balanced mode is contributing to the difference in bass, since the bass is one aspect that noticeably scales with better amplification, and how much is the pads alone. Will have a listen to the modded T5p single-ended at some point to try and separate out the contribution each is making to the whole. Offers the intriguing possibility of a simple modification to the pads for people who'd like a little more bass.

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networkn

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Reply # 733324 17-Dec-2012 00:37

Well all my goodies arrive tomorrow.

O2+ODAC, Bottlehead Crack Amp (I need to make this myself), and HE-400 HiFiMan Headphones.

Jaxson

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Reply # 733821 17-Dec-2012 19:35

Hi all,

Is there an agreed recommended 'best cheap noise cancelling headphones for long haul flight use'?

Anything around $100 - $150 you can use on planes that actually does effectively block the background noise? And that probably means no rear wrap arounds as they are no good when you're laying back in a seat, so in ear or overhead only I'd expect.

Cheers.

Technofreak

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Reply # 733865 17-Dec-2012 20:06

Jaxson: Hi all,

Is there an agreed recommended 'best cheap noise cancelling headphones for long haul flight use'?

Anything around $100 - $150 you can use on planes that actually does effectively block the background noise? And that probably means no rear wrap arounds as they are no good when you're laying back in a seat, so in ear or overhead only I'd expect.

Cheers.

I was about to post on here about my recent purchase, some Blacbox C20's. I had done some research and two Geekzoners, the boss Mauricio and Nate, had reviewed these or earlier models. They spoke highly of them as did several other reviews

The only place I could find them was JBHiFI, they had them on special a couple of weeks ago for $157 down from $179, when I went in to have a look/buy they were back at their normal price, when I queried about the special I got them for $150.

I do quite a bit of flying (down the back) and was looking to find a comfortable set of in the ear earphones that were preferably noise cancelling. I've not had the chance to try the C20's in an aircraft yet but they do work very well otherwise. I also have a pair of cheap Philips over the ear SBC HN 110 travel earphones which do fold up quite small and do a reasonable job for the price, but they are too big and or fragile to squeeze into my carry on bag. They're quite OK for travel otherwise but I wanted something that took up almost no space, hence the search for something like the C20's

There's a couple of beefs though, they're aimed at the Apple market and come with the 4 pin plug that suits Apple devices so for anyone else you need to use the included adapter cord. Also there is a control switch on the lead to the left ear piece which is only useful for controlling an Apple device. Why don't they make it a stand alone device and add an adapter cable for Apple devices instead of lumbering non Apple users with these add ons. I know Nokia provide some good device controllers/remote mics for their phones, you'd have to assume Apple do to.

One thing you do need to get used to is the battery/circuit board box which is part way along the lead between the plug ans the ear pieces. This is the heaviest part of the earphones and if you haven't used the attaching clip when you stand up to walk around with the earphones attached the weight of the box is liable to pull the plugs out of your ears.

Having said all that I highly recommend the C20's . I don't believe there's a better travel noise cancelling earphone for the money and they're New Zealand designed.

P.S Have a read of Mauricio's and Nates reviews they're here on Geekzone. I think Nate said he found them so comfortable he left them in even while sleeping with the noise cancellation turned on.

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Jaxson

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Reply # 733920 17-Dec-2012 21:18

Technofreak: There's a couple of beefs though, they're aimed at the Apple market and come with the 4 pin plug that suits Apple devices so for anyone else you need to use the included adapter cord.

Umm how does that work with an iphone 5 with the newer lightening connector shaped thingy?

Thanks for the heads up on the product Technofreak, appreciate the feedback. Cheers.
I'll go and track down those other reviews here on Geekzone.

I'm not normally a fan of in ears as I'm yet to find a set that feel comfortable to me. Some of the sports type are an intermediate measure, whereby they're in ear, but with a frame to support the in ears. Don't know how comfortable that is long term, much like the full over ears that can be a bit tiring/heavy/hot over time too.

Technofreak

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Reply # 734145 18-Dec-2012 09:57

I'm not normally a fan of in ears as I'm yet to find a set that feel comfortable to me.

Ditto here.

These use the interchangeable soft plug a bit like some hearing defenders do, there's three different size plugs to suit different size ears.

These are comfortable, unlike the original in ear ear buds which give me sore ears within 10 mintes these I can wear indefinitely.

As to your Q re the iPhone 5 lightning connector, all I can say is I would expect to see adapters available for this situation. In fact there's this one and no doubt others out there too.
http://www.macworld.com/article/2010674/cablejive-lightning-adaptor-connects-iphone-5-to-older-speaker-docks.html

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dickytim

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Reply # 734168 18-Dec-2012 10:33

Technofreak:
Jaxson: Hi all,

Is there an agreed recommended 'best cheap noise cancelling headphones for long haul flight use'?

Anything around $100 - $150 you can use on planes that actually does effectively block the background noise? And that probably means no rear wrap arounds as they are no good when you're laying back in a seat, so in ear or overhead only I'd expect.

Cheers.

I was about to post on here about my recent purchase, some Blacbox C20's. I had done some research and two Geekzoners, the boss Mauricio and Nate, had reviewed these or earlier models. They spoke highly of them as did several other reviews

The only place I could find them was JBHiFI, they had them on special a couple of weeks ago for $157 down from $179, when I went in to have a look/buy they were back at their normal price, when I queried about the special I got them for $150.

I do quite a bit of flying (down the back) and was looking to find a comfortable set of in the ear earphones that were preferably noise cancelling. I've not had the chance to try the C20's in an aircraft yet but they do work very well otherwise. I also have a pair of cheap Philips over the ear SBC HN 110 travel earphones which do fold up quite small and do a reasonable job for the price, but they are too big and or fragile to squeeze into my carry on bag. They're quite OK for travel otherwise but I wanted something that took up almost no space, hence the search for something like the C20's

There's a couple of beefs though, they're aimed at the Apple market and come with the 4 pin plug that suits Apple devices so for anyone else you need to use the included adapter cord. Also there is a control switch on the lead to the left ear piece which is only useful for controlling an Apple device. Why don't they make it a stand alone device and add an adapter cable for Apple devices instead of lumbering non Apple users with these add ons. I know Nokia provide some good device controllers/remote mics for their phones, you'd have to assume Apple do to.

One thing you do need to get used to is the battery/circuit board box which is part way along the lead between the plug ans the ear pieces. This is the heaviest part of the earphones and if you haven't used the attaching clip when you stand up to walk around with the earphones attached the weight of the box is liable to pull the plugs out of your ears.

Having said all that I highly recommend the C20's . I don't believe there's a better travel noise cancelling earphone for the money and they're New Zealand designed.

P.S Have a read of Mauricio's and Nates reviews they're here on Geekzone. I think Nate said he found them so comfortable he left them in even while sleeping with the noise cancellation turned on.

Interesting I have a pair of Philips SBC HN 110 also I feel they are pretty crappy really in terms of sound quality. I tried them with the noise cancelling on the other day and it caused some really bad distortion so I might actually have to replace these before I travel in April/May :(

I know a little more than nothing but not much...

Jaxson

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Reply # 734184 18-Dec-2012 10:55

dickytim: I might actually have to replace these before I travel in April/May :(

Ha, I'm travelling in April too and am looking to find something by then.

The Blackbox site/pictures etc are damn annoying in that they don't ever show what connector the C-20's etc actually have. I'm wondering if it's possible to connect straight to a standard 3.5mm headphone plug for instance, or how silly the official attachment to do this will be etc.

Their site also lists some clearance models at cheaper prices, the C18 and i10 models too.
http://www.blackboxonline.com/clearance-sale/

NZtechfreak

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Reply # 734251 18-Dec-2012 12:05

If sound quality is really the priority then I think in that price range I would just get the best IEMs available. These are very nice and can be had for a much reduced price within your budget via Amazon at present: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Ultimate-Ears-Noise-Isolating-Earphones/dp/B003YKG2XC/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1355785318&sr=1-5&keywords=logitech+ultimate+ears

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Technofreak

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Reply # 734366 18-Dec-2012 15:11

Jaxson:

The Blackbox site/pictures etc are damn annoying in that they don't ever show what connector the C-20's etc actually have. I'm wondering if it's possible to connect straight to a standard 3.5mm headphone plug for instance, or how silly the official attachment to do this will be etc.

The C20's fit a standard 3.5 mm jack.

P.S. They also come with an aircraft adapter plug.

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